1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a graphic editing apparatus for editing two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve and its method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automatic fingerprint identifying system (AFIS) scans an image of a fingerprint image using a scanning, extracts curves, which are referred to as core lines corresponding to a rising portion of the scanned fingerprint (see FIG. 6), and performs identification of fingerprint based on information of edge points and intersecting points of this core line. Processing for extracting the core line from the image of fingerprint is automatically performed by AFIS in the normal case. However, among the images of fingerprints collected at the scene of a crime, there are many images from which the core line cannot be extracted because of the low quality of image. In such a case, a person operates a computer by interactive processing and adds/deletes the core line.
In connection with the operations for correcting the core line, an operation for newly adding a core line of a portion where a fingerprint is unclear and an operation for deleting curves other than the fingerprint, which are extracted later, are often carried out. At the portion where the adjacent core lines are in delicately contact with each other, the core line cannot be automatically extracted in many cases. Processing for correcting a core line having an intersecting point 701 illustrated in FIG. 7 to a core line having an edge point 801 illustrated in FIG. 8; conversely, processing for correcting the core line having the edge point 801 illustrated in FIG. 8 to the core line having the intersecting point 701 illustrated in FIG. 7 are performed. Namely, the core line correcting operation is an operation for editing the image of graphics, and a graphic editing apparatus using interactive processing is resultantly used.
In the conventional graphic editing apparatus for performing such a core line correction, an operator controls an operation specification using an operation mode specifying button, a menu, and a keyboard so as to specify either processing for adding a curve as a core line or processing for deleting a curve line. However, in the conventional graphic editing apparatus, as the need for repeating the addition/deletion of curve frequently comes about, the operator must also frequently control the operation specification and this causes a problem in which the usability is poor.
For instance, in the case where the operation mode is changed by the menu selection, three operations, which include a mouse click for opening a menu, a mouse movement for selecting an item, and a mouse click for executing the selected item, are required. In the case where the operation mode is changed by the operation mode specifying button, the number of clicks of the mouse button may be one, but the mouse must be moved to the operation mode specifying button from a graphic area and returned to the graphic area again. In the case where the operation mode is changed by the keyboard, there are problems in which it takes much time for the operator to become accustom to perform the keyboard operation and the use of keyboard is limited in the other purpose.
A conventional method for deleting the graphics during editing by the graphic editing apparatus includes a method for specifying a rectangular area to delete the graphics in the area, a method for moving a brush by the mouse operation to delete the graphics, a method for selecting a specific curve to delete the curve, and the like. However, in the case where the curves are densely formed as the image illustrated in FIG. 6, there is a problem in which the operation for deleting the specific curve becomes troublesome even if any method is selected from among these methods.
As a document that discloses the technique close to such a graphic editing apparatus, there are Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. S62-128367, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publications Nos. H10-11598 and H11-328431 and the like. However, there is a problem in which the technique disclosed in any of these publications is not suitable for application to the correction of the core line extracted from the image of fingerprint set forth below.
For example, the technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. S62-128367 is one that corrects a passing point of a spline curve to deform the curve, and this cannot be applied to processing for the curve shown by a dot pattern as in the core line.
The technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H10-11598 is one that inputs a new line with respect to the line already inputted to automatically determine as to which of these corrections, including a mid-segment correction, an extension correction and a vertex movement correct, should be performed to respect to the line already inputted from coordinates of both lines. However, in the case where an operation that deletes a part of the inputted line to be divided into two lines or a adds a new line is carried out, the operation mode must be changed by the operator.
The technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H11-328431 is one that inputs a sketch curve to search a curve in the graphics close to the sketch curve and deforms the searched curved in the graphics is made close to the sketch curve. However, the same problem as that of the technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H10-11598 exists in this technique.
As mentioned above, the graphic editing apparatus, which is suitable for processing for correcting the curve such as a core line extracted from the fingerprint, has not been known well in convention. Hence, there has been desired a graphic editing apparatus that can efficiently perform an operation that deletes a curve included in graphics to be edited or adds a new curve to the graphics.
An object of the present invention is to efficiently perform the operations in which a curve is added to a two-dimensional graphics or a curve is deleted from the graphics.
In order to attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a graphic editing apparatus comprising a program memory for storing a program; a data memory for storing data; a display device for displaying an image; a coordinate input device for inputting two-dimensional coordinate data; and a processor, which is connected to the program memory, the data memory, the display device and the coordinate input device, for executing a predetermined calculation in accordance with the program stored in the program memory and for controlling the data memory, the display device and the coordinate input device, wherein the graphic editing apparatus edits a two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve in accordance with an operator""s operation of the coordinate input device, the data memory including an area where two-dimensional data of the graphics to be edited is stored; and an area where coordinate data inputted from the coordinate input device is stored, the program including a graphic storing step of storing data of the graphics in the data memory, a graphic displaying step of displaying an image of the graphics stored in the data memory on the display device; a coordinate inputting step of inputting, from the coordinate input device, coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists in accordance with the displayed graphics to be edited; a coordinate storing step of storing the inputted coordinate data of the plurality of points in the data memory; an addition/deletion determining step of determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphic should be deleted based on the coordinate data of the plurality of points and data of the graphics in the data memory; and a graphic editing step of performing either processing for adding a new curve to two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the data memory or processing for deleting a curve from two-dimensional data of the graphics based on a determination result in the addition/deletion determining step.
In the aforementioned graphic editing apparatus, a person, who edits the graphics, has only to input coordinate data from the coordinate inputting device in order to add the curve to the editing graphics and to delete the curve from the graphics. Namely, in the case of performing the addition of curve and the deletion, there is no need to perform such an operation that changes the operation mode. For this reason, according to the graphic editing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to edit the graphics efficiently.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, it is preferable that the coordinate input device can input coordinate data by an arbitrary method among a plurality of kinds of input methods. In this case, the program may further include a input determining step of determining whether the input method of coordinate data in the coordinate inputting step is a specific method indicating that no coordinate data of other points is to be inputted. The graphic editing step may correct two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the data memory two-dimensional data of the graphics where the curve is added or deleted when the input method is determined as the specific method in the input determining step.
Two-dimensional data of the graphics is corrected only after coordinate data is inputted from the coordinate inputting device by the specific method. For this reason, the person, who edits the graphics, can correct the graphics after confirming that coordinate data is inputted from the coordinate inputting means as intended
In the addition/deletion determining step, the addition/deletion determining step may determine whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphics should be deleted, every time when coordinate data is inputted in the coordinate inputting step. In this case, the graphic editing step may include a curve adding step of generating an adding curve corresponding to coordinate data of the plurality of points stored in the data memory when it is determined that the input method is not the specific method is determined and it is determined that the new curve should be added in the addition/deletion determining step; a curve deleting step of generating a deleting curve corresponding to coordinate data of the plurality of points stored in the data memory when it is determined the input method is not the specific method in the input determining step and it is determined that the curve should be deleted in the addition/deletion determining step; and a graphic correcting step of correcting two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the data memory to two-dimensional data where the curve is added or deleted based on the addition curve or the deleting curve when it is determined that the input method is the specific method in the input determining step. The graphic displaying step may superimpose the adding curve or the deleting curve on the image of the graphics and display the resultant on the display device.
Here, it is preferable that the image of graphics, the adding curve and the deleting should be displayed on the display device in modes different from one another.
The adding curve or the deleting curve is thus generated and is superimposed on the image of the editing graphics, and is displayed. This makes it possible for the person, who edits the graphics, to confirm the corrected graphics before coordinate data is inputted by the specific method to correct the graphics. Moreover, the display modes of the editing graphics, the adding curve and the deleting are made different one another, making it possible for the person, who edits the graphics, to confirm as to which of the addition of curve and the deletion of curve is determined in the addition/deletion determining step.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, when a plurality of curves being traceable from the starting point to the ending point of coordinate data stored in the data memory is included in the graphics, the addition/deletion determining step may determine the shortest curve of all as a curve to be deleted.
Such a state is generated; for example, when coordinate data of two points on the loop curve that form a closed area in such a case, the shortest curve is determined as a curve to be deleted to make it possible to edit the graphics more efficiently.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, the program may further include a step of determining whether a point intersecting other curve is included in the deleting curve when it is determined that the curve should be deleted in the addition/deletion determining step. In this case, the graphic editing step may perform processing for deleting a curve from the two-dimensional data of the graphics after excluding the intersecting point from a deleting object.
The point intersecting the other curve is excluded from the deleting object, so that the other curve is not divided in two-dimensional data of the corrected graphics.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, when there is a curve, which is traceable in accordance with coordinate data stored in the data memory and which has only non-curve points, included in the graphics, the addition/deletion determining step may determine a deletion of the curve having only non-curve points. In this case, the graphic editing step may perform processing for deleting the curve having only the non-curve points.
In this case, for example, even if the non-curve points are generated in the editing graphics by adding the new curve, the corresponding curve point can be easily eliminated to make it possible to edit the graphics more efficiently.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, the graphic editing step may further include the step of thinning each curve included in the graphics subjected to the curve addition when processing for adding the curve is performed.
In this case, for example, the non-curve points generated in the editing graphics by adding the new curve can be automatically eliminated to make it possible to edit the graphics more efficiently.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the curve that should be added in accordance with coordinate data stored in the data memory and the curve already included in the graphics form a loop curve with a length being less than a predetermined length, the graphic editing step may perform processing for excluding the loop curve to add the curve to two-dimensional data of the graphics.
In this case, for example, the short loop curve generated in the editing graphics by adding the new curve can be automatically eliminated to make it possible to edit the graphics more efficiently.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the first aspect, the program may further include a coordinate searching step of searching coordinate data of points on the curve included in the graphics close to coordinate data of points inputted in the coordinate inputting step. In this case, the coordinate storing step may store coordinate data of points searched in the coordinate searching step in the data memory in place of coordinate data of points inputted in the coordinate inputting step.
In this case, even if the coordinates are not correctly inputted from the coordinate inputting device, the person, who edits the graphics, can delete a desired curve from the editing graphics, whereby making it possible to edit the graphics more efficiently.
In order to attain the above object, according to the second aspect of the present invention, there can be provided a graphic editing apparatus for editing a two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve in accordance with an operation done by an operator, the graphic editing apparatus comprising graphic storing means for storing two-dimensional data of the graphics to be edited; graphic displaying means for displaying an image of the graphics stored in the graphic storing means; coordinate inputting means for inputting coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists in accordance with the image displayed by the graphic displaying means; coordinate storing means for storing coordinate data of the plurality of points inputted by the coordinate inputting means; addition/deletion determining means for determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphics should be deleted based on coordinate data of the plurality of points stored in the coordinate storing means and data of the graphics stored ins the graphic storing means;
graphic editing means for performing either processing for adding a new curve to two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the data memory or processing for deleting a curve from two-dimensional data of the graphics based on the determination result of the addition/deletion determining means.
In the graphic editing apparatus according to the second aspect, it is preferable that the coordinate inputting means may perform either an undefined input indicating that coordinate data of other points is to be inputted or a defined input indicating that no coordinate data of other points is to be inputted.
In this case, the graphic editing means may correct two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the graphic storing means to two-dimensional data of the graphics where the curve is added or deleted when the defined input is sent from the coordinate inputting means.
In this case, the addition/deletion determining means may determine whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphics should be deleted every time when coordinate data is inputted from the coordinate inputting means. The graphic editing means may include adding curve generating means for generating an adding curve corresponding to coordinate data of the plurality of points stored in the coordinate storing means when the defined input is sent from the coordinate inputting means and the addition/deletion determining means determines that a new curve should be added; deleting curve generating means for generating a deleting curve corresponding to coordinate data of the plurality of points stored in the coordinate storing means when the undefined input is sent from the coordinate inputting means and the addition/deletion determining means determines that the curve should be deleted; and graphic correcting means for correcting two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the graphic storing means to two-dimensional data where the curve is added or deleted based on the addition curve or the deleting curve when the defined input is sent from the coordinate inputting means.
The graphic editing apparatus according to the second aspect may further comprise coordinate searching means for searching coordinate data of points on the curve included in the graphics close to coordinate data of points inputted from the coordinate inputting means. In this case, the coordinate storing means stores coordinate data of points searched in the coordinate searching means in place of coordinate data of points inputted by the coordinate inputting means.
In order to attain the above, according to the third aspect of the present invention, there can be provided a graphic editing method for editing a two-dimensional graphics including at least curve in accordance with an operation done by an operator, the graphic editing method comprising inputting coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists; determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or the curve included in the graphics should be deleted with reference to the position of the inputted coordinate data of the plurality of points on the graphics; and performing either processing for adding a new curve to the graphics or processing for deleting a curve therefrom based on the determination result.
In order to attain the above, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there can be provided a computer-readable recording medium having a program for editing a two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve in accordance with an operation done by an operator recorded thereon, the program causing a computer to execute steps of storing two-dimensional data of the graphics to be edited in a memory; displaying an image of the graphics stored in the memory on a display device; inputting coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists from an input device in accordance with the displayed image of graphics to be edited; determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphics should be deleted based on coordinate data of the plurality of points and data of the graphics stored in the memory; performing either processing for adding a new curve to two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the memory or processing for deleting a curve from two-dimensional data of the graphics based on a determination result of the determining step.
In order to attain the above, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there can be provided a carrier wave having a data signal of a program for editing a two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve in accordance with an operation done by an operator superimposed thereon, the program causing a computer that receives the carrier wave to execute steps of storing two dimensional data of the graphics to be edited in a memory; displaying an image of the graphics stored in the memory on a display device; inputting coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists from an input device in accordance with the displayed image of graphics to be edited; determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphics should be deleted based on coordinate data of the plurality of points and data of the graphics stored in the memory; performing either processing for adding a new curve to two-dimensional data of the graphics stored in the memory or processing for deleting a curve from two-dimensional data of the graphics based on a determination result of the determining step.